"period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. Orkney is separated from the mainland of Scotland by the Pentland Firth, a wide seaway between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness. Orkney lies between 58°41′ and 59°24′ North, and 2°22′ and 3°26′ West, measuring from northeast to southwest and from east to west, and covers . Orkney is separated from the Shetland Islands, a group further out, by a body of water called the Fair Isle Channel. The islands are mainly low-lying except for some sharply rising sandstone hills on"
"Orkney Orkney (), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of Great Britain. Orkney is 16 kilometres (10 mi) north of the coast of Caithness and comprises approximately 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited. The largest island, Mainland, is often referred to as ""the Mainland"". It has an area of , making it the sixth-largest Scottish island and the tenth-largest island in the British Isles. The largest settlement and administrative centre is Kirkwall. A form of the name dates to the pre-Roman era and the islands"
"Shetland Shetland (), also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago of Scotland that lies northeast of Great Britain. The islands lie some to the northeast of Orkney, from the Scottish mainland and southeast of the Faroe Islands. They form part of the division between the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the North Sea to the east. The total area is , and the population totalled 23,210 in 2011. Comprising the Shetland constituency of the Scottish Parliament, Shetland Islands Council is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland; the islands' administrative centre and only"
"the main group, are part of Orkney and technically amongst the Northern Isles. However, the other small islands that lie off the north coast of Scotland are in Highland and thus not usually considered to be part of the Northern Isles. Orkney is situated north of the coast of mainland Scotland, from which it is separated by the waters of the Pentland Firth. The largest island, known as the ""Mainland"" has an area of , making it the sixth largest Scottish island. The total population in 2001 was 19,245 and the largest town is Kirkwall. Shetland is around north of"
"Northern Isles The Northern Isles (; ; ) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. The climate is cool and temperate and much influenced by the surrounding seas. There are a total of 26 inhabited islands with landscapes of the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both have a developing renewable energy industry. They also share a common Pictish and Norse history. Both island groups were"
"Fair Isle Fair Isle (IPA: /fɛəraɪ̯l/; ; ) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. the most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom. It is administratively part of the parish of Dunrossness, Shetland, and is roughly equidistant from Sumburgh Head some to the northeast on the Mainland of Shetland and North Ronaldsay, Orkney, some to the southwest. Fair Isle is long and wide. It has an area of , making it the tenth largest of the"
"Fair Isle Channel The Fair Isle Channel, also known as the Fair Isle Gap, is a body of water in northwest Scotland in the North Sea separating the Orkney Islands from the Shetland Islands. It is so named because of the presence of the Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands, which is located near its center. The Fair Isle Channel is believed to be one of the bodies of water used by the Spanish Armada in 1588 during its attempt to return to Spain following the Battle of Gravelines. Several of the Armada's ships became stragglers once this channel"
"was past, and ended up being lost on the shores of Ireland in the following weeks. Fair Isle Channel The Fair Isle Channel, also known as the Fair Isle Gap, is a body of water in northwest Scotland in the North Sea separating the Orkney Islands from the Shetland Islands. It is so named because of the presence of the Fair Isle, one of the Shetland Islands, which is located near its center. The Fair Isle Channel is believed to be one of the bodies of water used by the Spanish Armada in 1588 during its attempt to return to"
"Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth (, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. The name is presumed to be a corruption of the Old Norse ""Petlandsfjörð"", meaning ""the fjord of Pictland"", and is completely unrelated to the Pentland Hills near Edinburgh. Prior to the Norse occupation of Orkney the strait was known as the ""Sea of Orcs"" – a reference to the Pictish tribe who inhabited Orkney. Such was their marine prowess that there are also instances of this name"
"place names of the islands are dominated by their Norse heritage, although some may retain pre-Celtic elements. The phrase ""Northern Isles"" generally refers to the main islands of the Orkney and Shetland archipelagos. Stroma, which lies between mainland Scotland and Orkney, is part of Caithness, and so falls under Highland council area for local government purposes, not Orkney. It is, however, clearly one of the ""northern isles"" of Scotland. Fair Isle and Foula are outliers of Shetland, but would normally be considered as part of Shetland and thus the Northern Isles. Similarly, Sule Skerry and Sule Stack, although distant from"
"Mainland, Orkney The Mainland is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections. Seventy-five per cent of Orkney's population live on the island, which is more densely populated than the other islands of the archipelago. The lengthy history of the island's occupation has provided numerous important archaeological sites and the sandstone bedrock provides a platform for fertile farmland. There is an abundance of wildlife, especially seabirds. The name Mainland is a corruption of the Old Norse ""Meginland"". Formerly the island"
"but there are sea otters living here, and the usual seals. Haaf Gruney Haaf Gruney is a small island in the north east of the Shetland Islands. The island is between Unst and Fetlar which are to the north and south respectively. Between it and Yell are a mini-archipelago of small islands including Linga, Sound Gruney, Urie Lingey, Daaey and Wedder Holm. Uyea is also to the west. There was formerly a chromate mine. The island's name is a corruption of the Norse ""hafgröney"", ""gröney"" meaning ""green island"", and ""ha(a)f"" being an old word (still in some use in Shetland),"
"mainland Scotland, covers an area of and has a coastline long. Lerwick, the capital and largest settlement, has a population of around 7,500 and about half of the archipelago's total population of 22,000 people live within of the town. Orkney has 20 inhabited islands and Shetland a total of 16. The superficial rock of Orkney is almost entirely Old Red Sandstone, mostly of Middle Devonian age. As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, this sandstone rests upon the metamorphic rocks of the Moine series, as may be seen on the Orkney Mainland, where a narrow strip of the older"
"Yell Sound Yell Sound is the strait running between Yell and Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. It is the boundary between the Mainland and the North Isles and it contains many small islands. Sullom Voe, on the shores of which is a substantial oil terminal, is an arm of Yell Sound. The ferry to the North Isles crosses the sound, which can experience strong tides and adverse weather conditions. There are numerous shipwreck sites and several lighthouses to guide shipping. Yell Sound is mentioned briefly in the medieval ""Orkneyinga saga"" and during the 19th century there was a short flourishing of the"
"Faray Faray (Old Norse: ""Færey"") is a small island in Orkney, Scotland, lying between Eday and Westray. Previously inhabited, the low-lying island is now a successful grey seal breeding colony. Faray and Holm of Faray are formed of a ridge of Old Red Sandstone which extends southwards from Weather Ness at the southern tip of the island of Westray and almost connects Westray to Eday. The two islands are separated by the Lavey Sound. Faray was known as Pharay (or North Pharay to distinguish it from South Pharay, now called Fara). Both names are derived from the Old Norse 'faerey',"
"archipelago. Ferry services operate between Orkney and the Scottish Mainland and Shetland on the following routes: Two services also connect Caithness, with South Ronaldsay, which is in turn connected to Mainland by road. Inter-island ferry services connect all the inhabited islands to Orkney Mainland, and are operated by Orkney Ferries, a company owned by Orkney Islands Council. Mainland has a great deal of marine life surrounding it, especially seabirds. Corncrakes can also be found in some parts. The Loch of Harray can host up to 10,000 wintering duck and is important for pochard. There are few wild land mammals although"
"Brother Isle Brother Isle ( meaning broad beach island) is a small, uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland. It lies between the islands of Yell and Shetland Mainland. It is in size. The island's rock is ""undifferentiated moine gneiss and quartzite."" It is sometimes assumed that the ""Brother"" in the name refers to Culdees/""papar"" who were frequent inhabitants of the smaller islands, however, in this case there is no apparent evidence for this claim, and it would appear to be merely folk etymology. At only 40 hectares in size (about 1/6 of a sq. mile) and surrounded by tidal rips which"
"McFarlane Strait McFarlane Strait is a strait lying between Greenwich Island and Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands off Antarctica. It is long and wide. The name appears on an 1822 chart by Captain George Powell, a British sealer, and is now well established in international usage. The strait is centred at (), and entered between Williams Point and Duff Point to the northwest and between Renier Point and Ephraim Bluff to the southeast (British mapping in 1822 and 1968, Chilean mapping in 1971, Argentine mapping in 1980, Spanish mapping in 1991, and Bulgarian mapping in 2005 and 2009)."
"McFarlane Strait McFarlane Strait is a strait lying between Greenwich Island and Livingston Island, in the South Shetland Islands off Antarctica. It is long and wide. The name appears on an 1822 chart by Captain George Powell, a British sealer, and is now well established in international usage. The strait is centred at (), and entered between Williams Point and Duff Point to the northwest and between Renier Point and Ephraim Bluff to the southeast (British mapping in 1822 and 1968, Chilean mapping in 1971, Argentine mapping in 1980, Spanish mapping in 1991, and Bulgarian mapping in 2005 and 2009)."
"light every 3 seconds. The two Range lighthouses direct the ships towards the Hoy Sound from the Atlantic. Graemsay Graemsay is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses. Graemsay lies between Hoy and Stromness on Mainland Orkney, separated from the Mainland by Clestrain Sound. The island is in area and is mainly crofted. The island's geology is Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian period, with two volcanic faults. On the north coast there is granite-schist, a great rarity in Orkney. Graemsay is surrounded by strong tidal races,"
"Geography of Greenland Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. The territory comprises the island of Greenland–the largest island in the world–and more than a hundred other smaller islands (see ). As an island, Greenland has no land boundaries and 44,087 km of coastline. A sparse population is confined to small settlements along certain sectors of the coast. Greenland possesses the world's second largest ice sheet. Greenland sits atop the Greenland plate, a subplate of the North American plate. The Greenland craton is made up of some of"
"Hoy Hoy (from Norse ""Háey"" meaning ""high island"") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring — ranked largest in the archipelago after Mainland. A natural causeway, ""the Ayre"", links to much smaller South Walls; the two islands are treated as one entity by the UK census. The dramatic coastline of Hoy greets visitors travelling to Orkney by ferry from the Scottish mainland. It has extremes of many kinds: some of the highest sea cliffs in the UK at St John's Head, which reach ;; a light-stone precarious sea stack taller than the facing cliff – the Old Man of Hoy;"
"Arctic species ""Primula stricta"" and ""Primula scandinavica"". Mainland, Orkney The Mainland is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkney's burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, which is also the heart of Orkney's ferry and air connections. Seventy-five per cent of Orkney's population live on the island, which is more densely populated than the other islands of the archipelago. The lengthy history of the island's occupation has provided numerous important archaeological sites and the sandstone bedrock provides a platform for fertile farmland. There is an abundance of wildlife, especially seabirds. The name Mainland is a corruption of"
"Orkney and Shetland (UK Parliament constituency) Orkney and Shetland is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In the Scottish Parliament, Orkney and Shetland are separate constituencies. The constituency was historically known as Orkney and Zetland (an alternative name for Shetland). The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and replaced the former Parliament of Scotland shire constituency of Orkney & Zetland. The constituency is made up of the two island"
"Graemsay Graemsay is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses. Graemsay lies between Hoy and Stromness on Mainland Orkney, separated from the Mainland by Clestrain Sound. The island is in area and is mainly crofted. The island's geology is Old Red Sandstone of the Devonian period, with two volcanic faults. On the north coast there is granite-schist, a great rarity in Orkney. Graemsay is surrounded by strong tidal races, known locally as ""roosts"". An Orkney Ferries service, usually operated by , links the island with Stromness and"
"derivations of some are obscure and may represent pre-Norse, possibly Pictish or even pre-Celtic names or elements. Shetland is around north of mainland Scotland, covers an area of and has a coastline long. Lerwick, the capital and largest settlement, has a population of 6,958 and about half of the archipelago's total population of 23,167 people live within of the town. Scalloway on the west coast, which was the capital until 1708, has a population of less than 1,000. Only 16 of about 100 islands are inhabited. The main island of the group is known as Mainland. The next largest are"
"Sanday, Orkney Sanday is one of the inhabited islands of Orkney that lies off the north coast of mainland Scotland. With an area of , it is the third largest of the Orkney Islands. The main centres of population are Lady Village and Kettletoft. Sanday can be reached by Orkney Ferries or by plane from Kirkwall on the Orkney Mainland. The Picts were the pre-Norse inhabitants of Sanday but very few placenames remain from this period. The Norse named the island ""Sandey"" or ""Sand-øy"" because of the predominance of sandy beaches and this became ""Sanday"" during the Scots and English"
"make landing difficult, it would seem unlikely that the island has ever been inhabited. However, Brother Isle was inhabited until the 1820s, latterly by brothers with the surname Tulloch. This led to the mistaken assumption that the island's name referred to them. In 2004, a lighthouse was built on the island. Brother Isle Brother Isle ( meaning broad beach island) is a small, uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland. It lies between the islands of Yell and Shetland Mainland. It is in size. The island's rock is ""undifferentiated moine gneiss and quartzite."" It is sometimes assumed that the ""Brother"" in the"
"Foula Foula (pronounced //) in the Shetland archipelago of Scotland, is one of the United Kingdom’s most remote permanently inhabited islands. Owned since the turn of the 20th century by the Holbourn family, the island was the location for the film ""The Edge of the World"". RMS ""Oceanic"" was wrecked on the nearby Shaalds of Foula. The name ""Foula"" derives from Old Norse ""Fuglaey"", ""bird island"": compare the Faroese name of the island of Fugloy, ""bird island"", and Scottish Gaelic ""Fughlaigh"". Foula is a bleak yet spectacular island in the Atlantic Ocean, 20 miles west of Walls in Shetland. It"
"the Swedish capital of Stockholm. The −5 all-time low is uniquely mild for European locations on the 59th parallel north. The winter daily means are comparable to many areas as far south in the British Isles as south-central England, due to the extreme maritime moderation. Fair Isle Fair Isle (IPA: /fɛəraɪ̯l/; ; ) is an island in Shetland, in northern Scotland. It lies about halfway between mainland Shetland and Orkney. It is known for its bird observatory and a traditional style of knitting. the most remote inhabited island in the United Kingdom. It is administratively part of the parish of"
"most easterly points of Scotland with the exception of the Out Skerries, and much of Fetlar and Unst are under 350 km from Norway. Travellers do not encounter any further land masses between Out Stack and the North Pole if heading directly north. Other British records include - The regular ferries are the most northerly scheduled routes in the British Isles (excluding those going to the Faroes and Iceland). They run between Yell and Unst, Yell and Fetlar and Yell and Mainland. North Isles The North Isles are the northern islands of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The main islands in"
"south of the Falkland Islands, to the southwest of South Georgia Islands, and from the South Pole. The island is part of the South Shetlands archipelago, an islands chain extending in east-northeast to west-southwest direction, and separated from the nearby Antarctic Peninsula by Bransfield Strait, and from South America by the Drake Passage. The South Shetlands cover a total land area of comprising (from east to west) Clarence Island, Elephant Island, King George Island, Nelson Island, Robert Island, Greenwich Island, Livingston Island, Deception Island, Snow Island, Low Island and Smith Island, as well as numerous smaller islets and rocks. Livingston"
"is number three with ca. 5,000 inhabitants. See Cartographic expeditions to Greenland Geography of Greenland Greenland is located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Canada and northwest of Iceland. The territory comprises the island of Greenland–the largest island in the world–and more than a hundred other smaller islands (see ). As an island, Greenland has no land boundaries and 44,087 km of coastline. A sparse population is confined to small settlements along certain sectors of the coast. Greenland possesses the world's second largest ice sheet. Greenland sits atop the Greenland plate, a subplate of the"